Mahalo for supporting Honolulu Star-Advertiser. Enjoy this free story!
Hawaii’s passing gave setter Kate Lang her pick of hitters in both matches of a Big West homestand.
When the freshman setter sent the ball Brooke Van Sickle’s way, the Rainbow Wahine senior delivered at a dazzling rate throughout the weekend.
Lang turned in her second straight double-double performance and Van Sickle put away a match-high 14 kills and served up four aces in UH’s 25-19, 25-23, 25-16 sweep of UC Riverside before a crowd of 350 on Saturday at SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center.
Lang posted 37 assists and 10 digs while directing a UH attack that hit .324 as the Wahine (14-6, 11-1 Big West) held off UC Riverside to improve to 29-0 in the all-time series and remained tied with UC Santa Barbara for first place in the conference.
UH saw a 10-point lead cut to three late in the first set and needed a late surge to win the second. The Highlanders (5-17, 1-11) hung close midway through the third before the Wahine bolted away with an 8-2 run to take control.
“Definitely happy we won, especially in three, but definitely I think we can play a lot better,” UH coach Robyn Ah Mow said. “Just a little bit up and down today.”
With four weekends left in the Big West season, Hawaii and UC Santa Barbara have separated from the pack in the race for the conference title and the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. The Wahine and Gauchos remain tied atop the standings, three games clear of third place Cal Poly.
UH heads back to California for its penultimate road trip of the regular season this week, with matches at Cal State Fullerton on Friday and Long Beach State on Saturday.
The Wahine will enter the trip coming off a .329 hitting performance in the season’s first homestand with fans in the arena. Attendance was capped at 500 for both matches, with the restriction set to be lifted for the next homestand.
Van Sickle hit .520 on Saturday to close the weekend at .442 with 26 kills and three errors in her 52 swings over the weekend. She also set the tone from the service line with nine aces over two matches.
While Van Sickle led the Wahine in kills on both nights, Lang kept the entire lineup involved in both matches and sophomore Riley Wagoner hammered six of her 13 kills in the third set and also added an ace on Saturday.
Middle blocker Amber Igiede and outside hitter Martyna Leoniak added eight kills each.
“I think this weekend I was able to distribute the ball pretty much to wherever I wanted,” Lang said. “It’s the best part about setting, is you can set whoever you want.”
Spreading out the attack opened seams in the UC Riverside block and gave hitters several one-on-one opportunities.
“That’s a hitter’s dream, especially when your middle takes both blockers or Kate fakes them out,” Wagoner said. “That’s literally picture perfect.”
UH took command early in the first set with an 8-0 run, seven points coming with Igiede on the service line, to take a 15-6 lead. The Wahine appeared on their way to a quick win when UCR went on a 7-0 run to close to 21-18. A Van Sickle kill ended the run and she added two more with a block by Williams and Leoniak mixed in to end the set.
The second set was tied 21-21 when Van Sickle’s serve reception went over the net and fell on the Highlanders’ side to give UH the lead. A UCR error and Van Sickle’s kill off the block gave UH three shots at set point. The Highlanders fought off the first two before Leoniak, who hits primarily from the right side, hammered a kill down the line on the left to end the set.
UCR stayed close in the third set before UH bolted away with the 8-2 burst with Van Sickle serving up her fourth ace of the night and Wagoner contributing three kills in the run. Igiede scored on a step-out to end the night with her eighth kill.
UC Riverside middle Isabella Scarlett put away eight of her 14 attacks and outside hitter Deja Bickers also finished with eight kills to lead the Highlanders who hit .223 for the match.
77
